Chapter 21

***

“You, you woke up…… ?”

“I never thought you would get up before me….”

Larkshid said so and stretched out his hand towards her. He grabbed Yuri’s chin, turned her face slightly, and spoke quietly.

“Open your mouth for a second.”

Yuri opened her mouth slightly. He looked into her mouth for a second and then let go of her chin.

It wasn’t a rude gesture, but it was gentle.

“Fortunately, it seems to have been detoxified.”

“Was it poison that I ate?”

“Yes.”

Beware of visible knives did not make it work. Just the fact that there was malicious intent towards her was excruciatingly painful.

“More details, I’ll send a priest and a doctor, so let them see you again.”

“…ah, thank you.”

Larkshid got up from his chair. Then he reached out to Yuri.

“Do you want to get up?”

“Yes …”

Hesitating, Yuri took his hand. He soon grabbed Yuri’s hand and held it affectionately.

“Oh……!”

It was fortunate that there was a soft carpet on the floor. If it hadn’t been for that, she was sure she would have injured her knees. Strangely, there was no strength in her legs.

She soon opened her tightly closed mouth.

“I… how long have I been lying down?”

“Three days.”

He said with a dry face. Yuri couldn’t believe it had already been three days. Somehow, she lost all the strength in her arms and legs.

“Three days?”

Yuri’s eyes fluttered. Larkshid soon sighed and laid her back on her bed.

“Yes. First of all, don’t overdo it. Recovery comes first.”

“……Okay.”

“Get some rest.”

Larkshid got up and walked to the door. Yuri turned around and spoke to him as he was about to go out.

“I, there…… .”

“What’s going on?”

His face looked strangely calm. Yuri was startled by his warm blue eyes.

However, she spoke carefully.

“Oh, the child who came with me… .”

“… … Are you asking about the child’s well-being?”

“Yes.”

Larkshid let out a low sigh. Then spoke in a rather friendly voice.

“Think of your body first.”

“If it is possible……”

“Make it possible.”

Rakshid smiled low and returned to her side. He sat down on the chair where he had fallen asleep earlier and covered Yuri with a blanket.

“The child is fine. He’s with Eddie by now.”

“Eddie…..?”

“My son. The Edrato you met then.”

“….”

“Because both of them are in the midst of needing a friend. They quickly became friends.”

Yuri nodded her head. She remembered the little child screaming at her.

‘Eddie. It must be a nickname.’

Yuri repeated the name many times as she tried to memorize his nickname inwardly. She was happy to see that Rabin was also doing well. Because she was worried that Eddie would harass Rabin.

“If you don’t believe me, let’s go see them next time.”

“Is that okay?”

“Yes, Eddie was overreacting… but I didn’t raise him as a bad kid, so don’t worry.”

A faint smile spread across Larkshid’s face. At first glance, it was a friendly smile for his son, Edrato. Larkshid then told Yuri.

“Now rest a little more. More sleep will help.”

“I, I…”

“Sleep more. Because you woke up too quickly.”

But Yuri couldn’t sleep. She slept for three days and couldn’t sleep anymore. Yuri lay on the bed struggling and tried to close her eyes.

“I’ll see you in the evening.”

Yuri could tell that something warm had touched her forehead. It was as if his lips had touched her.

Then Larkshid went out. What the texture was, Yuri couldn’t figure out no matter how much she thought about it.

‘I’m embarrassed.’

After he went out, Yuri opened her eyes and fiddled with her forehead. Perhaps it was just his fingers that touched her, but had a different feel from it.

****

After that, a priest or a doctor came in and examined Yuri briefly. Everything was detoxified, but he told Yuri to rest to recover.

When evening came, the door to the room swung open. Yuri sat on the bed and greeted them. The two children came to see Yuri together.

“Lady Yuri!”

“Rabin, how are you?”

“Yes! I’m fine! I heard you have a cold.”

‘Did he tell the children that I had a cold?’

Yuri nodded her head.

“I was worried every day.”

In fact, it seemed better to the children to tell them that she was sick from a cold than to say she had fainted from poison.

“Yes. Thanks to Rabin’s concern, I got better quickly.”

Just then, a groan was heard from behind Rabin.

“Ha. Pretending to be weak…… only idiots catch a cold.”

“What?”

“You’re weak, so you caught a cold like a fool.”

It was Eddie. Somehow, it was cute seeing him grumble. Yuri didn’t hate it, she smiled softly.

“Then don’t you catch a cold?”

“Because northerners don’t catch colds.”

“Well, Lady Yuri is now a Northerner too. You idiot.”

Rabin rebuked. The relationship between the two boys seemed to be good. The worries Yuri had before seemed to disappear. Yuri had no friends, but Rabin and Eddie seemed to be really close friends.

“Are you originally from the East? Eastern people aren’t northerners, right?”

“Yes. You should think like that for the rest of your life.”

“You, this again!”

The two quarreled for a while. They both seemed happy while saying things like ‘this’ and ‘this idiot’.

After such a long time, Edrato looked at the quilt that Yuri was covering, and muttered loudly as if to be heard.

“… Why is the room so cold?”

“Ah, Young Master….. Are you cold?”

“I’m not cold.”

Then he exclaimed, “What do you think the Northerners are!” He was outrageously annoyed. He immediately shouted at Yuri, and then sprinted out of the door, seemingly saying something to the servants.

Yuri didn’t hear what he was saying, but the servants soon brought more firewood and set the fire bigger.

“The northerners don’t think it’s this cold!”

“Oh, Master Edrato. Thank you.”

“Who? I didn’t do it for you.”

“Then I must have misunderstood.”

“Yes! You idiot!”

Yuri smiled brightly. Edrato kept complaining that he didn’t know why the flowers looked so wilted in this room and that there was dust. While Edrato was in full swing, Rabin whispered quietly into Yuri’s ear.

“He kept coming to Yuri’s room and was kicked out every time.”

“I, really?”

“I think he wants to apologize.”

Yuri glanced at Edrato. It seemed that Rabin was right. After Yuri smiled at the cute Edrato, she called out his name.

“Edrato.”

“Yes?”

“Oh, Master Edrato. Ah, thank you.”

“What…….”

Edrato’s ears turned red. The corners of his lips raised. Rabin looked at him and said, ‘Do you see it?’ He said and poked Yuri with his elbow.

“Hey, call me Eddie.”

“Yes?”

“…… You, everyone calls me Eddie, except you. If you call me by my name, they get confused.”

‘Do you allow nicknames?’

Larkshid said that he raised Edrato with love. Indeed, what he said was true. Edrato was pure and bright, like children of his age.

A face that did not resemble Larkshid. River blue hair and pretty red eyes. If he had a face that did not resemble him, Yuri thought she could love this child.

“Yes. Uh, Eddie.”

“Yes….!”

Yuri liked the appearance and smiled softly.

****

“I heard the kids came and went.”

“Yes…”

“How do you think your child is doing?”

Larkshid came to see Yuri as if he had been waiting. In his hand was the book he was reading awkwardly. He sat down in the chair next to her and read the book slowly.

“Ah, I’m relieved that he seems to be doing well.”

“…”

“Oh, thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Yuri nodded her head and glanced at Larkshid. He was reading with his hair tied roughly and glasses on. His hair fell along his elegant shoulders.

“I…uh, Count.”

“Lark. You can call me Lark.”

Larkshid turned the pages and spoke casually. Yuri carefully put out the words she had been holding back.

“…Why do you care about me?”

At her words, Larkshid took off his glasses and closed the book.

“Because you were poisoned by the food I gave you.”

“…”

“No other reason.”

He looked at Yuri with cold eyes. For some reason, she felt like her throat was burning. 

‘Can I believe this?’

No. She couldn’t believe it. An experience similar to this had already happened once at the Duke’s residence. 

Larkshid had tried to kill her there, even though her family knew, they sent her to the north anyway.

“Uh, did you catch the culprit… ?” (*Yuri meant the culprit who poisoned the food. She didn’t know it was Larkshid who did it.)

“Yes. By the time we went into the investigation, he had already committed suicide.”

It was strange. He was trying to kill her. However, he called priests and doctors to help her recover, and even caught the criminal.

“All, you are….…I…”

“Yuri.”

Larkshid called her name in a calm voice. Yuri reflexively clasped her neck with her hand. Wasn’t he the one who tried to kill her? It crossed her mind that he might be the criminal.

“…… Go and stay away.”

“Yes….”

Yuri hesitated and stepped back.

“… … Are you trying to jump? Like back then?”

He spoke in a light tone. Yuri gave strength to her hand holding her neck. Everywhere she looked, there was a cold chill.